Fuji Rock Festival 2013

Well, I gave Blue Stapler a week to put this up. He failed to deliver.

Dates have been announced -- July 26-28. Anyone care to speculate on the per-stage, per-day breakdown right now? Advise on how quickly we need to get accommodation in case Portishead, a reunited Smiths and a resurrected Jimi Hendrix are announced? Place bets on whether Kura-Okami is planning his revenge for last year's dry Fuji with the mother of all mudfests? Grab your poncho and your portable ashtray and come on in....

Re: Fuji Rock Festival 2013

Thanks for picking up the slack, gweilo.

I'm going. I think. Unless some shit happens that would prevent me from being there.

If Portishead are one of the major headliners, you could probably hold off securing accommodations for a while, as their popular appeal in Japan might be somewhat limited. Tough to gauge how much draw undead Hendrix would have. Most of his fanbase here is probably too old to bother with a festival like Fuji. I'd say a Smiths reunion is the least likely of the three.

Four bands that you can (probably) cross off the list are Blur, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, and Brian Jonestown Massacre. They're playing this stadium festival thingy in May called Tokyo Rocks. The lineup last year consisted of Primal Scream and a bunch of crappy Japanese bands, so I'm not sure what happened there, except Alan McGee is reportedly involved in organizing it. But still. The festival will probably eat into Fuji's (and Summer Sonic's) fanbase, which can be a good thing (smaller crowds = less stress) or a bad thing (less revenue = less money to spend on booking bands) depending on your perspective.

As to the weather, something closer to what we had in 2008 would be nice. The relentless exposure to sunlight was a bit too much last year, though it's obviously miles better than the torrential rain we went through the three years before that. Someone needs to tell whoever is in charge of the weather in Naeba that he/she doesn't need to go to extremes.

Re: Fuji Rock Festival 2013

A question posed to me ages ago that I neglected to answer last year, from the Fuji 2012 thread...

Originally Posted by Al & Mel

By the way Blue Stapler (or anyone else) did you make it to The Field? I'm interested to find out what the show was like. Probably should've been on my 'regret missing' list but 3am was never going to be very likely. Wasn't up for much more after The Stone Roses finished off a long Friday for me...

I didn't see them, and I should've included them as one of my biggest regrets. My friends were raving about them though. Early evening slot at the White Stage in 2014 please.

Re: Fuji Rock Festival 2013

Ha, thanks for getting back to me Blue Stapler, had forgotten about that question!

Got excited about Fuji when we saw the dates last week but we're heading back to Coachella so not sure if we'll be able to make it back to Fuji this year but you never know. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on who's playing as we had a blast last year. Seeing as they appear to have gone back to their usual release schedule after last year's early announcements when do you expect the first round of bands, Feb/March?

Re: Fuji Rock Festival 2013

Four bands that you can (probably) cross off the list are Blur, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, and Brian Jonestown Massacre.

I was thinking about Blur, but I assumed MBV was unlikely. As for Primal Scream, I'm glad -- saw them at Clockenflap in Hong Kong and while they tried, they just don't appear to have it these days. It was boring.

As for spu001's list, a few of those have played Fuji before but not last year, so I guess they're possibilities. I've been hoping for Tame Impala for two years. I could see Alabama Shakes with a daytime Green gig. Paul Simon would need to headline, and I'm not sure he's Fuji's "type" (or how big he is in Japan), but I could be wrong.

Surfer Blood has a new one due out this year. They did Summer Sonic a couple years back, so maybe they'll give Fuji a spin this time. Major Lazer does too so they could be back, as could Warpaint and Beach House. That's assuming they want to come back.

I think it's a matter of time before we get Mumford & Sons.

I'm going to throw a few from left field out there:

Soundgarden -- more a wish of mine than a real likelihood, given that Stapler said they're not that big in Japan.
Alice in Chains -- new music coming, but they're probably in the same boat as Soundgarden.
Pearl Jam -- sticking with the monsters of the '90s theme. They've got new music too.
Rocket from the Crypt -- there has been speculation of a reunion, but again, not sure Japan cares.
QOTSA -- new music, tour, Dave Grohl on drums. Smash will either not want to get burned again, or QOTSA will repay for past cancellations big time.
Fugazi -- one can dream.

Re: Fuji Rock Festival 2013

Seeing as they appear to have gone back to their usual release schedule after last year's early announcements when do you expect the first round of bands, Feb/March?

Yeah, late February/early March, if things return to normal.

Alabama Shakes are playing Tokyo later this month. It's a one-show-only gig, and promoted by Smash, so I'd say it looks kind of suspicious. I think they'd be a more natural fit at the Field of Heaven than at Green though.

As for Soundgarden and AIC, who knows. I'd definitely be surprised if they were a headliner, but AIC wouldn't headline a major US festival either, would they? Both of those bands might be better suited for Summer Sonic this year, given that Metallica is headlining.

If we're talking about wishes, Cat Power is touring Australia in February/March, but is completely skipping Japan. I'm going to go on pretending that this automatically means she'll be coming here in the summer until I am advised otherwise.

Re: Fuji Rock Festival 2013

Musically, Alabama Shakes are a great fit for the FOH. But in terms of buzz, popularity, etc., I think they're destined for a larger venue.

No, AIC wouldn't headline in the US, though Soundgarden would (unless it was a huge festival like Coachella and six massive acts were already secured). I was just throwing a bunch of bands out there. I'd be just as excited to hear Rocket from the Crypt announced.

So I just saw it's Metallica, Stone Roses and Muse for SS. Still a lot of possibilities then....

Re: Fuji Rock Festival 2013

Anything we can infer from this? Lots of previous Fuji acts on the slate. Wu-Tang Clan would be pretty awesome -- could they headline the White? Yeah Yeah Yeahs would be great headlining the Red.

With RHCP headlining Coachella, I suppose that means they're fair game for Fuji as well, which would make them the first band to headline the festival for a fourth time (I think).

The Stone Roses are obviously out of the picture, and I suspect Blur are too. I have a hard time seeing Phoenix as a main headliner for Fuji, but maybe they'll be content with a headlining slot at White or Red?

From the Coachella undercards, I would love to see Nick Cave/Grinderman, but I understand that Mr. Cave wasn't on his best behavior the one time he played Fuji...

Edit: Also, I am absolutely willing to bet 10,000 JPY that Alabama Shakes will play Fuji this year so if anyone wants to take me up on this wager please PM me.

Re: Fuji Rock Festival 2013

Do you know if their original keyboardist is part of the reunion? Because, you know, he works for Smash.

All I'm seeing is stories talking about the "band getting back together", Geldof "playing with his old band mates". If that's the case, it sounds like a slam dunk. Once again, it looks like I'll be somewhere other than the Green on Saturday.

Re: Fuji Rock Festival 2013

Well it looks like Johnnie Fingers won't be joining the reunion according to this article. Good. I'm not familiar with Smash's inner workings but I assume he's pretty important, and we don't need him running off to play some festival in the UK when he should be focusing his efforts on delivering a good lineup for us.

The article says he's given his blessings though, so a Fuji appearance seems likely. I'm more inclined to think they'd play the Green Stage during the daytime. I realize that anything seems possible after some of the strange choices in the past, but still, I have a hard time picturing Boomtown Rats as a headliner. It would be hilarious if it happened though - a pretty brazen display of favoritism!

Re: Fuji Rock Festival 2013

Looking at the Splendour website, they don't seem to have announced the dates for this year yet. But even if it ends up being on the weekend before or after Fuji, there will probably still be some overlap.